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Retail

I have not seen ground floor plans for One Bryant, so I am not sure what the precise layout is. But, I have talked to some folks with knowledge of the project, and Durst has been talking to a few high profile restrauteur's. Again, not sure where exactly the retail is (I assume 42nd), but there will be some sort of retail.

I took some looks from just outside the various gates along 42nd St. today ...

The southernmost wall of the theatre pretty much lines up with the southernmost wall of the concrete core -- that wouthern line appears to be about 2/3 of the way across the building from the northern edge , leaving ~ 60' of space between the 42nd St. facade and the area within. Taking away another 10' for interior hallway, etc. that would seem to leave a 50' deep space available for retail -- or what ever other use is chosen.

Another observation: fire-proofing is now complete on the lower floors throughout the building, but the rust-colored uprights in the area at the corner of 6th Ave. / 43rd St. have NOT been coated with fire-proofing (all of the other girders and beams surrounding them have been coated). Which leads me to wonder if these uprights are not temporary (much like the uprights in the north / south "bump-outs at the Times Tower -- all of which were recently removed, leaving those bump-outs as cantilievers and which are just now receiving the glass curtain wall which is essentially suspended from the floor above and also attached to the foundation). Currently that area of B/A looks very crowded with uprights -- if these are indeed temporary and will be removed that entire area will be much more open than it now appears.

Additionally: on the floors above along 6th Ave. there are similar rust-colored uprights placed at the perimeter of the floors, some of which are now being removed as the building moves higher, leaving the edges of those floor plates cantilevering out from the main steel of the tower. Similarly those rust-colored uprights on the upper floors have NOT been fire-coated, while all of the other steel around them has been coated.

If this is so then it seems that the structure -- at least this level along 6th Ave. -- will have a cantilievered facade.

Also: fretted glass very similar to that used on Gehry's IAC building has been installed on the floors above the loading dock area just between the B / A low-rise section and the Conde Nast building. The same fretted glass has been installed at the top-most floor over the theatre on W 43rd St. This glass transitions very well to the milky glass panels on the 42nd St. side.

Ángel Franco/The New York Times
At the Bank of America tower in Midtown, stairwells exceed city code standards. They are reinforced concrete and are wider than required.

Developers of some planned buildings, like the Freedom Tower at ground zero and the Bank of America tower in Midtown, are voluntarily meeting higher standards than those required by the code, in part because anxious tenants now seek them. It is unclear, however, whether such efforts will continue as market conditions evolve.

[...]

For example, many features of the 54-story Bank of America tower, now under construction at 42nd Street and Avenue of the Americas, will reflect the concerns of a post-9/11 world: bollards to block bombs, shatterproof glass, extra-thick steel and wider staircases encased in thick concrete. Many were not required under the code but were sought by the bank, as anchor tenant, or the developer, the Durst Organization.

I haven't seen renderings of that ^^ but they have started to install fretted glass similar to that used at Gehry's IAC building on the top-most floor above the Henry Miller facade on W. 43rd -- but there is space between the top of the theatre and the newly-installed glass -- and that space has not yet received glass or whatever it is that will go there. That transition will be tricky -- I'm thinking that they will use a different material to butt up to the existing theatre facade. But we'll just have to wait and be surprised ...